Spirit Voyage

This collection will carry you to a place of sacred serenity with beautiful instrumentals and gentle healing chants ideal for deep relaxation and healing. Compiled in consultation with massage therapists, this CD features music from Snatam Kaur, Amrit Kirtan, Sada Sat Kaur, Mirabai Ceiba, GuruGanesha Singh and Dave Stringer.

The Yoga Living Series contains music from Spirit Voyage Artists. We have been blessed to find artists with pure authenticity and a deeply spiritual connection with their music. This allows us to share music with the world that not only comes from exceptional talent, but also has pure intention and a deep and abiding connection to the spirit. These artists represent a spiritual integrity, not just in their music, but in their actions and their projection. Whatever spiritual path their music is born from, it represents their inner core. The music is a manifestation of a deep spiritual practice. 

Snatam Kaur was introduced to music and spiritual practice at an early age. Schooled in kirtan, meditation, and Gurmukhi, the Sanskrit-based language of Sikh scriptures from Northern India, the young Snatam Kaur began to develop the devotion and skills that have grown and blossomed into a compelling, profound talent.

Snatam Kaur's parents brought her up in the Sikh tradition as taught by Yogi Bhajan. From an early age, she practiced yoga and meditation daily and her mother taught her Gurmukhi. "My mother taught me the alphabet on my way to school every morning," recalls Snatam. Her Sikh community augmented these lessons with instruction in kirtan (devotional chanting). "Through these experiences, I learned the pronunciation," she says, "but also I learned the passion for what I was singing because these gatherings were so spiritual."

As a child, Snatam also had training in voice, violin, guitar, and percussion. She obtained a solid foundation in Western classical music while playing violin in an orchestra and giving solo performances. Her many opportunities to use and expand her musical talent in a spiritual setting emphasized for her the connection between her music and spirituality. "I learned about the importance of sound currents from Yogi Bhajan," she says, "but I also had the personal experience of how the energy of these sacred words can have a very real, positive effect."

Snatam further explored the power of sound in India. After high school, her love for the Indian musical tradition and for children took her to Miri Piri Academy, a boarding school for children in India. She spent time taking care of the young children, teaching physical education, and providing music for the children's morning and evening chanting. When she returned to the United States, she attended Mills College in Oakland, California, where she obtained a degree in biochemistry, taught yoga classes, and shared her chants with Western audiences. But India called her back. After touring and performing Kirtan in northern India, Snatam settled in Amritsar where she studied music with the accomplished ragi (Indian master of Sikh-style kirtan) Bhai Hari Singh. This was a great honor for her, and particularly meaningful because Singh was the same teacher who had taught her mother when she was just a little girl.

Snatam embraced everything that Singh taught her, from the technical aspects of the notes, to the ability to sing with presence and awareness. The lessons took place in Singh's home, where Snatam was welcomed by the entire family--daughters, sons, and grandchildren.

While in Amritsar, Snatam lived next door to the Golden Temple, considered the world's holiest Sikh temple. Sacred music resonates from inside the temple from about 2:30 in the morning to midnight every day-sounds created by world-class masters of Sikh kirtan. This enabled Snatam to continually soak in the essence of the Sound Current.

Upon returning to the US from India, Snatam began her career as a recording artist with a band called the Peace Family. She served as the band's lead singer and, with two skilled and accomplished musicians - Livtar Singh and GuruGanesha Singh, had her first opportunity to write songs. Two years later she began to develop her own sound and style and embarked on a very fruitful solo career.

Back in 1973, a young man left an up-and-coming rock band called Cat's Cradle to walk the spiritual path, embracing the Sikh faith and the practice of Kundalini Yoga. It was a hard choice. But his spiritual guide, the world-renowned master of Kundalini Yoga, Yogi Bhajan, told the young man, "Whatever you leave behind to walk this path will re-manifest later, in a higher form."

Today the world knows that man as GuruGanesha Singh, a guitarist of exceptional grace and expressiveness, a singer, songwriter, producer and entrepreneur who has been a leading figure in establishing World Sacred Music as one of the fastest-rising and creatively fertile genres on the current scene. With a brand new album, Kundalini Surjhee, an exciting new live project with golden-voiced singer Tina Malia titled Song of the Soul, and an on-going musical collaboration with the incomparable Snatam Kaur (in its12th year and still thriving), GuruGanesha feels that he's now experiencing the complete realization of the prophecy Yogi Bhajan made all those years ago.

"What's happening now is a full manifestation," he says. "All the same pieces are there that were there in '73, but they've re-manifested in a higher form. All the spiritual and musical work I've done for the past 38 years has been preparing me for this."

GuruGanesha is one of those rare individuals who combine the heart and soul of an artist with the clear, quick mind of a seasoned and wise business leader. By the time he started Spirit Voyage Records in January, 2000 he had already made a substantial financial success as CEO of Sandler Training Institute of Virginia, a company dedicated to providing integrity based sales training for the high-tech industry. For many people, that would suffice as a life's achievement, but for GuruGanesha it was just a prelude.

The first year of the 21st Century proved a musical watershed for him. He released the album A Game of Chants with Guru Singh, Thomas Barquee and the Grammy-winning singer Seal and began to record as part of the Peace Family, a group featuring the extraordinary, angelic voice of Snatam Kaur. Becoming Snatam's manager as well as her guitarist and co-vocalist in 2000, GuruGanesha helped launch Snatam as a solo artist with the Spirit Voyage album release Prem. It was the first in a string of outstanding CDs, including Shanti, Grace, Anand and Liberation's Door that established the diminutive yet divinely guided singer as one of the preeminent voices in the growing world of mantra, kirtan and devotional music.

GuruGanesha's shimmering, evocative guitar melodies and supple chordal rhythms played an integral role in creating Snatam's signature sound. Their collaboration over the years has been extremely fruitful and always dedicated to the service of humanity and the cause of world peace. In a similar way, GuruGanesha has helped foster the careers of producer Thomas Barquee, the devotional duo Mirabai Ceiba, Nirinjan Kaur and now, Tina Malia.

In 2004 GuruGanesha made his debut as a solo artist with the album Grateful Ganesh, a title that pays playful tribute to the artist's all-time favorite band, the Grateful Dead. This was followed by Pure Ganesh in 2006 and Joy Is Now in 2008. All these releases are remarkable for their blend of heartfelt songcraft and sterling guitar work embracing a cornucopia of musical styles, from kirtan to jazz to raga to rock.

GuruGanesha has taken his unique musical vision to even greater heights on his new release Kundalini Surjhee, an album that includes several collaborations with Tina Malia, a gifted singer whose recordings span the devotional, pop and electronic fields and who has worked with such diverse artists as Carlos Santana, Jai Uttal, Bonnie Raitt, Kenny Loggins, India.Arie and Bassnectar. In addition to his usual robust touring schedule with Snatam Kaur, GuruGanesha will be hitting the road this year with Tina Malia on their Song of the Soul tour along with multi-instrumentalist Hans Christian, percussionist/remix master Craig Kohland and fast rising young bassist Jared May.

"I've been aware of Tina for a long time," says GuruGanesha. "I feel she's right up there with the best female devotional singers on the planet. And she has a beguiling pop side as well, which I love."

And so the young man who turned his back on rock and roll glory has become an icon and inspiration in another great musical genre-one with higher goals than fame or wealth.

"I'm 60 years old now and I've dedicated the past ten years of my life to sending healing sound currents out to the world," he says. "I'm not doing it for the money. I've already had success in business. It's been a labor of love and devotion, from starting Spirit Voyage, to my work with Snatam and now embarking on the Song of the Soul Tour with Tina. People on the planet are so stressed out now. They need the healing, soothing energy of the Divine Mother. When a Snatam Kaur or a Tina Malia sings, there is an innocence and purity to their voice that opens every heart in the room within seconds. Everyone in the audience will feel like a child again, in their mother's arms. For a time, they will forget all their troubles and cares, and rediscover their true identity as spiritual beings."

Amrit Kirtan was born in New Orleans, Louisianna, and raised in Houston Texas. One of her fondest childhood memories was singing at the nursing home her adoptive grandmother was in, performing particularly for the elderly, sick or suffering. At the age of 12, she started voice lessons, and attracted the attention of renowned opera singer coach Alana Nicolaidi, who was then teaching at the University of Houston. She then attended the American Music and Dramatic Academy in Manhattan’s upper west side, trained in musical theatre. Amrit then moved to L.A. to start a brief and unfulfilling life as an actor. There, she met Chris, the man who would change her life forever. She took an extended break from acting, qualified as an Emergency Medical Technician, a Phlebotomist, even took flying lessons, all the while finding her way back to music. Amrit’s curiosity was piqued when she met a white Sikh. Two hours later, she found out about her local Gurudwara, the 4am Sadhanas, the chanting, and Kundalini Yoga.

Two years later she was a fully qualified and accredited Kundalini Yoga instructor. Meeting Yogi Bhajan was another life changing experience, as was the chance to journey alone to India on a voyage of self discovery and spiritual growth. There, she found the spiritual root of her musical inspiration, the source of her definitive sound of music. Eventually she contacted the renowned producer Thomas Barquee, and started on their first project together. A year and a half later, “Sacred Circle” was completed.

The Los Angeles Times has declared the experience of chanting with Dave Stringer to be  “a departure from ancient kirtan. Stringer’s performance shaped the experience into a far more compelling musical encounter.” Kirtan (pronounced keer-tahn) originated in India, and is currently experiencing a worldwide renaissance as a participatory live music experience. Stringer has been widely profiled as one of the most innovative artists of the new American kirtan movement in publications as diverse as Time, Billboard, Yoga Journal and In Style.
 
Stringer’s sound marries the transcendent mysticism of traditional Indian instruments with the exuberant, groove-oriented sensibility of American gospel, and he is regarded as one of the most gifted singers in the genre. Stringer, who is also an accomplished composer and multi-instrumentalist, has a special ability to bring people together and inspire them to sing. His work intends to create a modern and participatory theatrical experience out of the ancient traditions of kirtan and yoga, open to a multiplicity of interpretations, and accessible to all.
 
Initially trained as a visual artist, filmmaker and jazz musician, Stringer had his formative experiences with chanting when film editing work brought him to the Siddha Yoga ashram in Ganeshpuri, India in 1990. A subsequent period of residence at the ashram laid the foundation for his continuing study of the ideas, practices and music of yoga.
 
Since 2000, Stringer and a diverse ensemble of accompanying musicians have toured North America and Europe tirelessly, developing new venues for music, and expanding the audience for kirtan. He has introduced chanting for the first time to many seemingly unlikely cities, and through his consistent touring, has been instrumental in the development of a number of thriving local kirtan communities. He has also served as a volunteer teaching meditation and chanting to inmates at a number of correctional facilities in the United States.
 
An articulate and engaging public speaker, he probes the dilemmas of the spirit with a wry and unorthodox sense of humor. Stringer frequently works in tandem with internationally celebrated yoga teachers, creating music for workshops led by John Friend, Shiva Rea, and Gurmukh, among others. Of particular note has been his friendship and collaboration with yoga teacher Saul David Raye, with whom he has created a number of recordings.
 
Based in Los Angeles, Stringer has produced varied recordings with other celebrated World musicians including Azam Ali, Vas, Axiom of Choice, Rasa, Suzanne Teng, Shaman’s Dream and the Open Door Orchestra. Chant artists Donna Delory, Suzanne Sterling, and Girish went on to launch their own careers in the genre after spending time in Stringer’s performing and recording ensembles. His voice also appears on numerous soundtracks, including the blockbuster film Matrix Revolutions and the video game Myst. The CDs he has produced under his own name, “Brink”, “Japa”, “Mala” and “Divas & Devas”, are heard in yoga studios throughout the world.

Sada Sat Kaur's name represents within yogic circles the alchemy of everyday custom turned into high art. For over 30 years she has toured the world, chanting mantras and singing kirtan in ashrams, concert halls, schools, public parks.

In India, audiences have been known to flock to her as if she were the Beatles. "We play to crowds of 200,000 people," she says. "They want to touch you and get your autograph. You go to these parks when it's a Sikh holiday, and they hear that these American Sikhs are going to sing, and you can't even see the end of the sea of people."

As the decades have passed, that sea of people has never managed to hoist Sada Sat Kaur toward a recording studio-until now. "The feeling inside myself was that this was all going to happen when it was supposed to happen," she says, "and it did."

In 2000 she was hanging around the watermelon tent at a Summer Solstice retreat in the mountains of New Mexico when she fell into an exchange with musician and producer Jeremy Toback. "We just got to talking and Jeremy and I were like, `Let's do an album." The result of that chance encounter is Angels' Waltz, a debut disc from a 56-year-old homeopath and yoga instructor who also just happens to be a master of a musical and spiritual form.